The question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the "people’s initiative against fat-cat pay". With a billing like that

admin2018-03-01  36

问题     The question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the "people’s initiative against fat-cat pay". With a billing like that, who wouldn’t vote yes? As it happened, 68% of the electorate did, passing a measure that requires listed companies to offer shareholders a binding vote on senior managers’ pay and appointments at each annual general meeting. The penalty for bosses who fail to comply is up to three years in jail or the forfeit of up to six years’ salary. Switzerland’s penchant for direct democracy has trumped its tolerance for tycoons.
    Swiss business is shaken. It had backed a "counter-initiative" giving shareholders more voting powers without threatening criminal sanction. That was rejected by voters. The new law, which will be written into the constitution, endangers Switzerland as an investment destination, the business lobby claims. Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, now accepts the popular verdict but warns that such complex and highly charged changes must be implemented carefully. The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write, some cynics suggest.
    The initiative is the brainchild of Thomas Minder, who runs his family’s toiletries business. He has apparently never forgiven Swissair for backing out of a contract when it nearly went bankrupt 12 years ago and then awarding its former boss a big pay-off. Mr Minder’s campaign gained momentum last month on news that Novartis, a Swiss drug firm, intended to pay its departing chairman, Daniel Vasella, a severance package of SFr72m ($76m). Mr Vasella later refused the package.
    After Mr Minder’s victory it will become harder to extend such corporate generosity. Some of the new restrictions seem sensible. Shareholder votes on executive pay, hitherto ad hoc and advisory, will become routine and binding. Pension funds will be required to vote in the interests of their members and make their votes public. Board members will not be permitted to have consulting or other contracts with firms in the same group.
    But other provisions are more burdensome. The law will ban incentives that can be useful, such as "golden hellos" and severance packages for board members. It will also bar them from accepting rewards for buying or selling company divisions.
What can be implied from the second paragraph?

选项 A、Swiss has accepted the public accusation.
B、Swiss has given voters more voting powers.
C、It will take a decade to write a law in Swiss.
D、Switzerland used to be an investment destination.

答案D

解析 选项A是对于第二段中问的“Economiesuisse,the Swiss Business Federation,now accepts the popular verdict”一句的改写。其中“popular verdict”=“public accusation”,但其主语错误,原文说的是Economiesuisse这个组织,而不是瑞士。选项B对应该段第一、二句:Swiss business is shaken.It had backed a“counter-initiative”giving shareholders more voting powers...可见瑞士是给了股东更多的投票权,而非给了选民更多投票权,故选项B错误。选项C项对应该段最后一句:The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write,some cynics suggest.是“落实投票选举的法律将花费10年才能完成”,而不是该项的“在瑞士,写一部法律需耗费10年”。故该项错误。选项D对应原文:The new law,which will be written into the constitution,endangers Switzerland as an investment destination.意为:这部将写入宪法的新法律,使作为投资目的地的瑞士受到威胁。可见瑞士本来就是一个投资目的地,故选项D是正确的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/VVBZ777K
0

最新回复(0)